film
Fight the power
Panahi defies Iran once more with ‘Closed Curtain’
by Michael J. Casey
F
rom the late 1990s to the early years of the 21st century, some of the best in cinema came out of Iran. Populated with directors like Asghar Farhadi, Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Jafar Panahi, Iran’s postmodern renaissance showed that nothing was safe from the probing gaze of the camera lens. Sadly, this era came to an abrupt end in 2009 when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began his second term as president of Iran. Challenging cinema was out and these directors found themselves persona non grata. Makhmalbaf, Kiarostami and Farhadi left for other, more understanding countries, but Panahi, possibly the best of the bunch, was left behind. He couldn’t even leave his own home. In 2010, after multiple conflicts and arrests for civil disobedience, Panahi was sentenced to six years of house arrest and a 20-year ban on filmmaking. Panahi, never one to play by the rules, continued practicing his craft, even though his movies would never play in his native land, and could land him a much stricter punishment if he were caught. 2011’s This Is Not a Film — a documentary of sorts — was shot in Panahi’s
Rotten Tomatoes
What’s up, dog?
Tehran apartment with a digital camera and iPhone and smuggled out of the country via a pen drive hidden in a cake. The movie shows a man crippled, but it ends with a glimmer of hope, a twinkle in Panahi’s eye and a refusal to go quietly into that night. His follow-up, Closed Curtain, which is playing Oct. 15-18 at The Boedecker Theatre, is that very twinkle. Trying to describe the plot of Closed Curtain is a sticky endeavor, but at its core, it is an autobiographical construct of Panahi post-ban. It begins with a
mostly wordless shot of a screenwriter (Kambuzia Partovi, who also receives a co-director credit) smuggling his canine companion into a deserted seaside home (Panahi’s vacation home on the Caspian shore). The Iranian government has declared dogs impure and forbidden citizens to walk them in public (an actual law), so the writer shuts himself and the dog inside the house. That night, there is a knock at the door. A woman (Maryam Moqadam) and her brother (Hadi Saeedi) appear out of the darkness, and the brother
leaves the girl with the writer. Clearly, they are both being pursued by something, but the brother reveals nothing, offers no answers to the writer’s questions and gives no hint as to who he, or she, is. There is where the logic of Closed Curtain ends, and the mirrors of Panahi begin. Panahi never allows his viewers sure footing as he introduces more characters and forces others to disappear completely, only to show up a few scenes later without explanation. Panahi himself shows up in a sizeable role and the house continues to transform, bouncing back and forth between impenetrable darkness to blinding hot light. In This is Not a Film, Panahi questions the nature of cinema, his role in cinema and the value of that role once cinema has been robbed from him. In Closed Curtain, Panahi finds the answer that he has been looking for all along. Cinema is his role. For Panahi, there is the camera and there is nothing else. As one character tells him, “There is more to life than work. There are other things too.” “Yes...” Panahi replies, “But those things are foreign to me.” Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
BOYHOOD
IVORY TOWER
ROAD TO EDEN
Director Richard Linklater filmed Boyhood over 12 years with the same cast, cinematically charting the rocky terrain of childhood. We take our journey through the eyes of a young boy named Mason (Ellar Coltrane), who grows up on screen before our eyes. Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette act as Mason’s parents, and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
A shocking and disturbing look at higher education in the U.S., Ivory Tower examines the many problems facing universities and students who attend them. Filmmaker Andrew Rossi brings to light the crisis looming for these young people, asking, “Is it all worth the cost?” Only 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14, IFS at Muenzinger Auditorium.
Road to Eden is a documentary that follows Dan Nicols and his band in the fall of 2011 as they travel the American Deep South during the Jewish Festival of Sukkot. Sukkot, for the Gentiles out there, is the last of Three Pilgrimage Festivals, known for being an unreservedly joyful week-long holiday. For Nicols and his band, each town, each day, is a new adventure, a new celebration, even through heartbreaking stories, and the movie as a whole reminds us that we are all traveling together on a road to a better future. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
Boyhood will also be shown at the International Film Festival, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10 and 11, Muenzinger Auditorium.
LAND HO!
CLOSED CURTAIN
An exploration of aging, loneliness and friendship within the story of a pair of 60-something ex-brothers-in-law on a road trip through Iceland. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
See full review above. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
LA SYLPHIDE — PARIS OPERA BALLET
CRAFT
The first of two versions of the ballet premiered at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris Opéra with choreography by Filippo Taglioni and music by JeanMadeleine Schneitzhoeffer. Ultimately, the ballet is a story about the insatiable human desire to find true love. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
Documentarian Craig Noble examines how craft brewers are managing to maintain their integrity in the face of exploding popularity and all the increased demand that comes with it. And while one could watch a documentary about craft-brewing all by itself, at this screening, you can do so with food and beer courtesy of BRU Handbuilt Ales & Eats, which is turning its October beer dinner into a celebration of food, beer and film with a multicourse meal paired with BRU’s seasonal offerings to go along with the film. Only 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14, IFS at Muenzinger Auditorium.
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MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS A dramatic film on demonic possession, director Jerzy Kawalerowicz places his camera in the figurative and literal position of God, and puts a spin on cliched “black is evil, white is good” symbolism. The film won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1961. Only 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15, IFS at Muenzinger Auditorium.
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SHORTS: 2014 With both fiction and documentary, the Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 94-minute theatrical program of eight short films from the 2014 edition of the festival. Only 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12, IFS at Muenzinger Auditorium.
WAKING LIFE A movie that speaks to the existential crisis occuring in us all at one point or another — what does it all mean? Created with rotoscoping-style animation, the film creates a trippy experience for viewers as they journey along with a man as he traipses through dreams searching for the meaning of life and the purpose of the universe. Only 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9, IFS at VAC Basement Auditorium. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
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